Why Are So Many U.S. Mothers Becoming Their Family's Primary Economic Support?

Although the growing prevalence of primary-earning mothers is well established, this article uses 1996 and 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation data to show U.S. mothers' rate of transition to primary-earner status increased by nearly 50% over the observed period.

How Do Households Fare Economically When Mothers Become Their Primary Financial Support?

The economic circumstances in which children grow up have garnered much scholarly attention due to their close associations with well-being over the life course. While it has been well-documented that children are increasingly growing up in households where their primary financial support comes from their mother, regardless of whether she is partnered or single, the consequences for household economic well-being are unclear. We use the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation to quantify how a mother's transition into primary earner status affects the economic well-being of her household and if the effects differ based on her relationship status.

Cohabiting couple's economic organization and marriage patterns across social classes.

Objective: Empirically examine whether different economic theories of marriage formation predict the transition from cohabitation to marriage differently across social classes.

Background: Less-educated individuals marry their cohabiting partners at lower rates than their college-educated peers, but the reasons for this are unknown. Few studies have examined the intersection of social class and couple-level economic resources to understand if the potentially gendered economic determinants of marriage vary according to a couple's social location.